United States: The experts have sound alarm that, although the season has come to be spent behind closed doors and close to friends and family members, which, unfortunately, means being infected with COVID-19, RSV, influenza, and norovirus.
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The characteristics of winter likewise contribute to the spread of viruses: cooler temperatures, low moisture content, and indoor heating systems all contribute to the ideal environment for viruses to proliferate at the same time as most of our mucous membranes are dry.
Experts explain what winter would be like for COVID, RSV, the flu, and norovirus this winter and essential steps that one might take.
What more have experts explained?
Here is one that makes COVID stand out; the loss of the sense of taste or smell, something rarely seen with the other respiratory illnesses.
There are many respiratory diseases that have symptoms similar to those of COVID-19, like cough, shortness of breath, fever, body aches, congestion, and sore throat.
Furthermore, one apparent sign that sets COVID apart is loss of taste or smell, which isn’t common with other respiratory diseases.
Symptoms of COVID may also start out mild and then gradually become more severe.
There is one that makes COVID stand out: the loss of the sense of taste or smell, something rarely seen with other respiratory illnesses.
COVID-related symptoms may also be initial and subsequently worsen gradually.
Tracking COVID has changed a lot over the past four years. Far fewer individuals are taking tests and sharing the results with a healthcare provider, meaning most cases that are reported come from wastewater samples and emergency department patients.
According to Dr. David Weber, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “If you look at the numbers around the country, there’s been maybe a very slight bump post-Thanksgiving, but it seems to be fairly steady,” Yahoo Life reported.
Predictions for COVID-19 are more challenging because the virus is relatively recent than RSV or influenza, on which the experts have spent several years analyzing its spread.
COVID has also blurred some of the typical pandemic seasons seen in other respiratory illnesses.
So, if it remains as active as it was during the last three years, one could assume there will be two outbreaks annually – in June and December, respectively.
For this winter’s COVID-19 surge, Justman added it could worsen to a rate higher than this past summer’s surge but still possibly not as bad as last winter.